York County man charged with five county burglaries

A York County man is accused of committing five Perry County burglaries late last year.

Scott Gregory Senft, 19, of York waived preliminary hearings before District Judge Daniel McGuire last week.

Senft was arrested last month and charged with five counts each of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary, both first-degree felonies; three counts of criminal trespass, second-degree felonies; and two counts of criminal trespass and four counts each of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, third-degree felonies.

Additionally, Senft was charged with one count each of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, first-degree misdemeanors.

According to court records, Senft and an accomplice, Joshua Miller, 28, of Harrisburg, conspired and committed five robberies in the county. Miller is being held in Dauphin County Prison for similar charges.

The first two robberies occurred Sept. 26, 2008 at Mountain Road residences in Greenwood Twp. Pennsylvania State Police, Newport, said approximately $14,220 worth of jewelry, checkbooks and other items were stolen from two residences. At one residence, police said Senft gained access by breaking a rear door window pane, and at the other, he pried open a garage door.

On Oct. 1, jewelry and a camera, worth more than $6,000, were stolen from a Mountain Dale Road residence in Rye Twp. On Oct. 9, two more robberies took place at residences along Faculty Road, Penn Twp., and Newport Road, Wheatfield Twp. Items stolen included jewelry, money and laptop computers, with a value totaling approximately $7,386.

Police said Senft gained access by prying open a rear door at the Wheatfield Twp. residence and through an unlocked door at the Penn Twp. home.

Reports stated a silver sedan was at each robbery in Perry County and surrounding counties. It later was revealed Miller operated a silver Chevrolet Lumina.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, state police received active pawn sheet records from the Cumberland County Records Office, and it was discovered Miller sold large quantities of jewelry to Gold Mine Coin and Jewelry Dealer, Mechanicsburg, Sept. 25-26, and twice on Oct. 3.

On Oct. 10, state troopers searched the Lower Paxton Twp., Dauphin County, residence Miller was staying at and found numerous stolen items. Investigators revealed Miller admitted to several burglaries in the area and storing the items at the Lower Paxton Twp. residence. He implicated Senft as an accomplice. He also admitted to selling some of the jewelry at Gold Mine Coin and Jewelry Dealer.

On Oct. 12, police said Senft admitted to conspiring with Miller to commit several burglaries. The victims were able to identify some of the items stolen.

Senft remains in Perry County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. He will be formally arraigned before President Judge Kathy Morrow next month.